It’s too easy to pick the low-hanging fruit.

After all, when an NFL coach pulls a 7-year quarterback and replaces him with a rookie fifth-round draft choice and he tosses five interceptions — albeit not all his fault — and has to replace him with the guy he just benched in a 54-24 loss, the target is too easy.

Yeah, the Buffalo offense wasn’t good … you’re not winning any NFL game with six turnovers.

To be sure, Nathan Peterman had a nightmare inaugural, throwing five interceptions, though only three were his fault.

Still, he joined the NFL Hall of Shame, throwing five picks, three in the first quarter, an ignominious milestone last achieved by former Redskins QB, Patrick Ramsey, in 2002.

The six takeaways handed the Los Angeles Chargers 31 points on their home field.

Coach Sean McDermott’s “calculated risk” turned into a colossal failure to the extent that he had to put former starter Tyrod Taylor, who we thought, after the switch, we wouldn’t see on the field again as a Bill, back into the game after barely a half.

It was a galling afternoon of which two conclusions can be drawn.

One, the Bills quest for acquiring a “franchise quarterback” in the draft is again priority No. 1.

And, second, McDermott faces a soul-searching week. Does he swallow his pride and reinstate Taylor as starter, or does he stick with Peterson who suffered an embarrassing inaugural, not totally of his own making.

There’s also this.

For all his shortcomings — reluctance to throw deep downfield or over the middle — Taylor was a fierce ball-protector.

In seven starts, he was intercepted only three times. Peterman equaled that in in barely 12 minutes.

Tyrod was responsible for four takeaways (including one fumble) in his seven starts and the rookie from Pitt exceeded that in a half.

But there’s still an elephant in the locker room that somehow has escaped microscopic scrutiny.

Buffalo’s defense.

Is it because that’s McDermott’s side of the ball?

Many speculated that the quarterback change was intended to deflect attention from the horrid performance of the Bills ‘D’.

In the current three-game losing streak, Buffalo has been outscored, 135-55, or 45-18 per game. The Bills, in that span are also surrendering an average  of 414 yards a game, the NFL norm is 337.

But McDermott was disinclined to blame his defense.

“Today the game got away from us in a hurry … due to turnovers in part,” he said, admitting “things snowballed.”

He conceded several times he had to evaluate the game and that he made the decision to pull Peterman at halftime, but didn’t second-guess choosing to start him.

I felt like this was the right situation for Nate to come in and play,” McDermott said. “ I don’t regret the decision, I regret the result.

“It wasn’t what we had hoped for or he had hoped for. At the same time, when you put a young quarterback out there … there are going to be some ups and downs. To me (Sunday’s effort) is not indicative of who (Peterman) is.”

He did concede, “We’re going through a tough stretch right now … all teams go through this … look around the league, this is part of it. Rarely around the league do you have a clean year.”

But no Bills team has gone through a streak like this.

Over the 58-year history of the franchise, in no three-game losing streak has Buffalo surrendered as many as 135 points — the current number — the closest was when the 2-12 1976 team gave up 130 in a trio of season-ending defeats.

However, McDermott was quick to point out, “A lot of people had us written off earlier in the year and for a lot of people right now it’s a little bit different than what they thought initially. We’ve got to manage this downturn right now, stay mentally tough, make the proper corrections and move forward.”

He also pointed to the youth on the roster — “first- and second-year players” — but of the 24 starters, including the kickers, only four fit that description and a mere 11 on the 53-man roster are that inexperienced.

Still, he concluded,  The game got away from us today, but I’m confident in this locker room and these coaches.”

But if this trend continues, that confidence won’t.

(Chuck Pollock, a Times Herald sports columnist, can be reached at cpollock@oleantimesherald.com)